RS

EDITOR OF REDSTATE

A Tale of Two Leaders: Boehner v. McConnell

There are some calls out there right now to boycott the NRCC over the 8 cap-and-trade votes cast by the GOP.

Are we going to seriously punish Dave Reichert for voting for cap-and-trade when he barely won his district in 2008 and something like 70% of his district both supports cap-and-trade and thinks environmental issues are the most important issues in Congress? If so, don’t delude yourself into ever thinking we’ll get the majority back.

Some Republicans have to vote in ways the majority of us find detestable in order to stay in Congress.

But then there is Bono Mack, Castle, and Kirk. They did not have to vote that way. I am most troubled by Congresswoman Mack and think we should beat both her and her useless husband.

Of note, and one reason I do not think we should do to the NRCC what we are doing to the NRSC (in addition to a boycott of the NRCC totally obscuring exactly why we need to punish the NRSC), even the House GOP leadership quickly threw the eight yes votes under the bus.

When is the last time you have seen the Senate GOP do that?

On Friday night, the House GOP sent out a press release blasting the passage of H.R. 2454 and listed the names of all eight Republicans who voted for it. The Senate GOP would never do that.

Not only that, but John Boehner took to the floor of the House to engage in a quasi-filibuster of the legislation. Please note that those criticizing Boehner for not making it a full filibuster are under the impression that he could have done so. Boeher was speaking with “unlimited” time, which actually meant he was speaking for as long as the Speaker would allow him — a big difference and something he cannot afford to abuse.

Boehner tied up the House for an hour by daring to read the legislation and then the House GOP Leadership sent out a release blasting the eight Republicans who voted for cap-and-trade. I dare Mitch McConnell to be so bold.

McConnell’s typical idea on something like this would be to get an amendment allowing drilling for oil in one square inch of ANWR, then declare compromise a success and vote for the thing. Hopefully, in this battle, he will be a fighter not a squish. He should remember what John Boehner did both before and after the vote, then act the same way.